Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
"An inch of gold is equal to an inch of time, but an inch of time cannot be bought with an inch of gold."
-Chinese Proverb
The first thing that Inuzuka Kiba remembers, is being curled up by Neechan's side, surrounded by the Triplets, as she tells him a story. She'd trace the words on the page, and he'd follow along.
Reading comes easily to him, because words are just what stories are made of, though Neechan always tells the best stories when she isn't reading from books, when they're just sitting together, on the floor of her room in a big fluffy pile, and she tells stories that she makes up.
She told him one about a group of seven adventurers and their quest to destroy a ring that would destroy the chakra of a very powerful opponent. It was a long one, and the adventurers had strange names, and her voice grew hoarse after telling for nights on end, the different obstacles they'd had to face. She tells him that the youkai left this land, very far far away, and the gods deserted the realm of men because all good things go away, and Kiba wonders if this isn't just a story she's made up.
It seems very much like where they came from, though he can't find anything in any book that tells him about these people and this story of a ring.
When Neechan tells stories that she makes up, everyone has strange and unusual names, and he can never find them in history books.
After that, she told him the story of a man who'd been wronged and locked in a prison like the Blood Prison for many many years, and how he came back and took revenge afterwards. It also took many nights to tell this story. Her voice slipped into sadness when she told him the end, that revenge drove the man mad, and ruined the lives of many others who could have lived well.
Kiba reminds himself that revenge isn't a very good thing if it does that. He can't find any historic examples of this man either, who'd lived on an island, who'd been rich enough to own an island, but Uchiha Madara and his desires to take revenge come pretty close.
A little later, and she tells him the story of a man who built a monster out of fat pride and gave it life, and how it turned around and destroyed the lives of everyone he loved.
Kiba had a few nightmares about this one, and decided that Neechan's bed was a nice place to stay, and that he shouldn't go around building actual people. He isn't sure if he wants to actually look this one up, because it sounds too close to the truth.
He gets a little older, and Neechan is a little busier and sometimes she leaves for months on end, and he has to read his own stories, and make up his own games. It is lonely, but Neechan always comes home, and at the end of the day, she'd tell him small stories-a magic beanstalk, three little pigs, a girl no bigger than a thumb, a ninja warrior made of tin, a white snake, a pair of butterfly lovers, a hero who shot arrows at the sun, a woman who floated up to the moon with a rabbit.
It seems as though Neechan is made up of infinite stories, like she's dropped from the sky, and whenever he asks, she has a new one to tell him. No one knows as many strange and interesting stories as Neechan does, not Kaa-san, not Cousin Ashi, not even the librarians when he asks them, nicely, to tell him another story.
So no wonder, Kiba grows older, and firmly believes that Neechan knew more than the entire world put together. Neechan is five years older than him, which is a lifetime's age according to him, but she's not five years older than him like other people are five years older than him.
Neechan seems older than that, wiser than that, smarter than that, and on the streets as they pass, he'd hear people call her a prodigy, a genin at seven.
It makes him inordinately proud. Neechan's the best. The bestest ever.
Neechan loves lemon candies, just like him, or maybe he loves lemon candies just like Neechan, which is really just the same thing anyway.
When they walk together, he rides on Neechan's shoulders. And today, they're going to the park. He'd met Tou-san today, and discovered that they both looked lots like Kaa-san. He likes today, even if it is sad that Tou-san's dead.
His mood is perfect today because Neechan agreed to come and look at his sandcastle when he's done, so of course he meets a meanie at the sandpit when Neechan is at the swings, and of course it has to be more than one meanie.
"Niisan." Says the smaller one, who's building a sand castle of all different kinds of stupid. Everyone knows that you have to pack the bottom with lots and lots of sand before you try to carve out any turrets. But then, the meanie is stupid, so that's that. "You're the bestest and smartest person in the entire world!"
And that is just a lie. Kiba turns around and opens his mouth to tell him so. "No. Neechan's obviously better than your dumb Niisan, stupid." Shouldn't be so mean to other people, Kiba-chan. Neechan whispers in his mind, and he shoves the idea away. Not mean. 'S just true.
The younger one, he's nicknamed this one 'stupid,' opens his big mouth and lots of stupid comes out. "You're wrong. Niisan's is so totally better than your dumb Neechan!"
"Sasuke!" The older meanie says, and he's nicknamed this one 'idiot,' but Kiba barely hears him over the roaring in his ears. You gonna call Neechan dumb?
His hands clench into fists, though he doesn't dive forward right then and there, so Neechan will be super proud of him. "You take that back!"
Stupid says nothing, just crosses his arms and smiles like he's better or something.
Kiba flings a handful of sand at him. "You take that back!"
Idiot frowns, and Kiba pulls his lips back in the snarl that he's seen Neechan and Kaa-san do when they're mad at outsiders. "Neechan's super strong." He says flatly. "She tells the best stories."
"Who cares about stupid stories!" Stupid shouts at him, and flings a handful of sand in his direction. "Bet your dumb Neechan isn't strong as Niisan!"
"Sasuke! Apologize!" Says Idiot, but Kiba's heard enough about Stupid badmouthing Neechan.
"'M go get her, and then you'll shut up." He jabs an angry finger in Stupid's direction. Neechan's at the swings.
"Neechan! Neechan!" He is right. Neechan is on the swings. "Neechan you've gotta come over."
She scoops him up, as soon as she's off the swing. "What's the matter, Kiba-chan?"
This is much better. The meanies had been fighting him two to one, but now he has Neechan, and he can admit that he'd felt a little scared before. Just a little scared, not a lot a lot scared, but it's good to have a Neechan. "There's a real meanie by the sand pit and he says that you aren't the best Neechan in the world 'cause he's got a Niisan that's better and-"
Neesan squeezes him tight. "Well, let's go back to the sand pit and I'll build you a better castle, alright?"
"Yeah!" That sounds like the best thing in the world. And then those stupid meanies will shut up and everything will be just like it's supposed to be."We'll make the best castle ever!"
"Itachi-kun?" Neechan asks, and Idiot turns around with a smile. Wait. Neechan knows the older meanie? He isn't sure if he's supposed to feel betrayed.
"Hello, Hana-chan." Something in his mind howls. It's not fair. It's not fair. Not fair, not fair, not fair.
"Kiba-chan said that someone thought I wasn't a good sibling?" Neechan's being pleasant and nice with the meanies. She shouldn't be. She should be proving that she's better.
Kiba decides he needs to take his own actions to defend Neechan. A hit on the sandpit, and Stupid's sand castle falls down. Hah! You really were bad at making them.
They're not supposed to fall down.
"I already told you, Niisan's better cause he's a ninja." Stupid's just rehashing. Besides-
"Well Neechan's also a ninja and she's better than anyone, so there." And now the rest of the castle's gone too, so there.
"Kiba-chan..." Neechan's aiming for his ticklish spots. "Don't be mad."
"But you're the best Neechan in the world!" Why didn't Neechan dislike them? Stupid had said she was dumb.
She laughs, golden-brown eyes brighter than the sun. "But you see, Sasuke doesn't have a Neechan. He has a Niisan. That's different." It isn't different at all, as far as Kiba is aware, but Neechan seems to like the older meanie.
So he'll have to like older meanie too, and that means calling him Itachi instead of Idiot. It doesn't mean he has to care a bit for Stupid though.
Now that he's met Stupid, it seems like the other boy is turning up every time he visits the park.
He's sitting in the sandpit again, making his sandcastle while Cousin Ashi followed after with a book and knitting needles, when Stupid shows right back up.
"Where's your dumb Neechan?" Stupid asks, in that voice that really means he's really super better, and Kiba sees red.
"She's at the Chunin Exams so there." He crosses his arms. "Is your stupid Niisan there?"
Stupid freezes for a moment, and doesn't respond.
Hah! So you know he's not there.
"Who cares bout the stupid chunin exams." This is just Stupid trying to save face. He's embarrassed cause Kiba's proven that Neechan's better than his stupid Niisan. "They're dumbo anyway."
Kiba's willing to let that slide, but Stupid kicks at his sandcastle, and some of it falls down.
He growls and lunges for Stupid. "You're a stupid, and your Niisan's a stupid." He heard a song on the street, and now he's just making up words for it, because this is just so unfair and he hates it. "You're a stupid and your Niisan's a stupid and you'll only ever be a stupid!"
"Get off!" Stupid wails. "Why're you so mean?"
Kiba remembers that it's bad to seek revenge, and Neechan doesn't like it when he gets sand in the bed, so he lets Stupid up, but when Stupid tries to run away, he follows him. "Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, you're a smelly stinky stupid."
Stupid bursts into tears and runs away.
He feels a little bit uncomfortable about this, but also a little triumphant. See! I told you Neechan was better!
It's not good to be so mean, Kiba-chan. I'm disappointed. He puts the thought away carefully, guiltily. He wasn't being mean. Stupid was mean first.
It still settles uneasily though, so he follows after the scent of the tears Stupid had left behind, all the way to a gate.
Itachi-meanie's waiting for him, with angry eyes. "What did you say to Sasuke?"
It takes Kiba a moment to remember that Sasuke's Stupid's real name. "Said he was stupid. He was a meanie earlier 'cause Neechan's gone." He holds out the lemon candy. "But didn't mean to make him cry 'bout it." He scuffs the street with the toe of his sandal. "And he's really wimpy 'cause he cried 'cause I called him stupid, but sorry about calling him stupid."
Itachi-meanie takes the candy. "Don't do it again, Inuzuka Kiba." And then Itachi-meanie is gone, and Kiba has to go home.
Home to no Neechan to tell him he did a good job. He half suspects Neechan wouldn't think he did a good job anyway.
He doesn't meet Stupid Sasuke much after that. It takes another year.
"You're the meanie from the sandpit!" And you didn't accept my apology so you don't get any.
Neechan prevents him from engaging Stupid Sasuke in another fight. "Kiba-chan...I already told you that Sasuke-chan is not a meanie."
Stupid Sasuke's hiding being Itachi-meanie like a coward, but he's sitting on Neechan's shoulders, so this is slightly better. "But Neechan! I made sure that he went home crying last time!" He doesn't mean to confess this, he really doesn't...it just sort of...pops out.
He's pulled off of Neechan's shoulders. "What did you do to Sasuke-chan last time?" It doesn't sound like Neechan's happy. I knew it.
"I only told him that Neechan is much better than his rotten Niisan 'cause Neechan was at the exams." Kiba crosses his arms and kicks a bit of dirt. "It's his fault he started crying cause I made up a song 'bout how great you are and what a loser his Niisan is." He doesn't want to see Neechan's reaction to this. That and Stupid Sasuke hadn't accepted his apology anyway.
Neechan tilts his head up. "That's not an acceptable way to treat other people, Kiba-chan."
And she looks so disappointed with him that he could cry. Sorry, sorry, sorry, stop looking so sad, Neechan! "But Neechan!"
"No buts." But she's forgiven him, 'cause she ruffled his hair, and she'll forgive him more if he does what she says. "You can't say that everyone else's opinions are wrong, you know. You've gotta let them have their opinions. Sasuke loves his brother very much, and you love me very much Do you like it when Sasuke-chan wants you to love his Niisan?"
"NO!" That's such a horrible thought that he has to cling to Neechan's legs."I don't ever want to love his stupid Niisan. I want to go to the kennels with Neechan." Don't wanna be here. Here is bad.
"Then why would Sasuke-chan want to love me?" She pries him off of her legs. "You don't want to love his Niisan."
Maybe that makes a little sense. Not a lot of sense, but still a little sense, and Neechan wanted an apology anyway.
"I s'pose you can like your Niisan 'nd m'sorry about the song. But Neechan's still better!" And Neechan's still mine and not yours.
He visits Stupid Sasuke's house shortly after this. Neechan has lemon candies so it's okay, and he has a pocketful by the time that they arrive.
"Hello, Fugaku-san. Mikoto-san." And then Neechan is bowing and forcing him to bow too.
"Neechan!" He wriggles and resists. "Kaa-san says we shouldn't have to bow to anyone. Why're you doing it left and right?"
"Kiba-chan...A bow is a symbol of respect, and while we don't have to respect anyone at home because we're all of us equal at home, we are not at home right now Kiba-chan." Neechan kneels so that they're eye level, and keeps on explaining. "We're in the Uchiha District. While we're here we should follow their rules."
Kiba frowns. "That's weird. We aren't them." We're Inuzukas. That's what we are. Not Uchihas.
"We would like them to respect our rules when they visit our home." Neechan smiles, and ruffles his hair. "You wouldn't like it if everyone bowed to you, right? They like it the other way around."
"I still think it's weird." Why would anyone like other people bowing at them? Why would it matter? Just listen to what they have to say. "But if that's the way they like it here." And he bows, exactly like Neechan did, so everything's all good. "Hello Fugaku-san. Mikoto-san." According to Neechan, this means that they're all friends now. "We can be friends now!"
And then he's going to talk to the first Tou-san that he's ever properly met. Miko-san looks pretty, but he already knows how Kaa-sans feel about people. He could ask Kaa-san about how she felt whenever he wants.
He's watched other people talk to their Tou-sans. They went out to do things like train or eat food together. He's visited his Tou-san again, by himself, but it's not the same without Neechan or the pictures. Tou-san has shiny hair that's almost white, and eyes like the sky, but that's all he knows.
He doesn't know if Tou-san would like him very much, or anything at all. Sometimes he suspects that Neechan's so nice because Tou-san taught her, which would mean that Tou-san wouldn't like him very much because sometimes Kiba is angry and mean.
"What's it like to be a Tou-san?" He plays with Fuga-san's hands, because he's not really sure what to do with his own, so he traces some patterns on the palms, and notes the little scars and things, and flips them over to do the same to the back.
Did Tou-san have scars on his hands? He doesn't know. It's just another of a lot of things he doesn't know about Tou-san.
"Why do you ask, Inuzuka-kun?" Fuga-san sounds concerned.
Kiba frowns. "I'm Kiba, not Inuzuka-kun." And since Fuga-san's asked, the question's gotta be important. He can't mess this up, gotta say the right thing this time. "Don't have a Tou-san. Wondered what it was like."
"I'm sure that your Tou-san is very proud of you and your sister, Kiba-kun as I am proud of my sons." Fuga-san doesn't sound much like Kiba's imagined Tou-san to sound like, but he does sound like he's saying what he thinks.
"You think so?" Kiba considers it. Tou-san might be proud of us. Might be. Fuga-san even said so. "You're actually very nice, Fuga-san." And suddenly Neechan's words make sense now. "That's what Neechan meant by different people are similar too!" He races off towards the scent of Stupid Sasuke. "Hey, hey, Stupid Sasuke! Are you a nice person too?"
Stupid Sasuke protests that he isn't stupid, but Kiba's got a pocketful of lemon candies that he can share, and knowing Tou-san might be proud of him is enough to prompt him to.
"Wait, Niisan gave me one of these once." Stupid Sasuke looks over. "Where'd you get these? I couldn't find out where he got them from."
Kiba frowns, and pokes his shoulder. "Cause I got them, Stupid. 'Nd I gave you the last one. They're special. Only Neechan knows where to get them."
Sasuke pops one in his mouth. "Thanks. Suppose you aren't terrible."
"'F course I'm not!"
Sasuke is still stupid, but his Tou-san's nice, and his Kaa-san's pretty, and Fuga-san had answered a very important question, and he hasn't said anything a meanie would yet, so Kiba can be nice to him, and pass him another lemon candy.
Neechan goes away soon after, and he goes back to the park by himself this time.
"You're Kiba, right?" It's Sasuke.
"Yeah." He supposes that Sasuke's never really learned his name what with the whole stupid and meanie thing going on and all. "That's me."
Sasuke flops down beside him. "You want to build a sandcastle?" He seems pretty blue too. "Would build one with Niisan but he's always busy, and now he's gone and not even Shisui-nii's home. Kaa-san's got something to do and Tou-san's busy too, 'cause they're always always busy. And sometimes you build nice castles." He adds as if this is an afterthought.
"Neechan's gone too." Kiba offers. "And Cousin Ashi's injured and stuff." He tilts his head back and looks at the sky. "And Kaa-san's gone on a mission, so she's not home yet either." His stomach growls. "And there's no one to make food."
Sasuke frowns and looks concerned about the situation. "Can't your Tou-san make food?"
And that's just such a funny thought that Kiba has to laugh wildly and hysterically. Stone people don't make food, Stupid. Sasuke looks more concerned, so Kiba offers him a hand, and pulls him up. "C'mon. I'll show you Tou-san." He suspects that Sasuke wouldn't get it if he told him that his Tou-san's a stone person.
They make their way back home, and Kiba takes the beaten track down to where Tou-san is.
"Your Tou-san's here?" Sasuke sounds a little horrified. "But this is-"
"Mmmhmm." Kiba hums a song he'd learned from Neechan under his breath and brushes away some of the dead grass next to Tou-san's stone. "Tou-san's been here for forever, but Neechan tells stories 'bout him sometimes."
When he looks back at Sasuke, Sasuke looks like he's about to cry. "But that's terrible." The other boy whispers. "Who do you ask about-about people and life and stuff?"
Kiba shrugs. "Neechan knows lots of stuff." And Kaa-san knows some more, and Cousin Ashi'll answer questions sometimes.
It's Sasuke who grabs his hand this time. "C'mon. Kaa-san's got lots of food in the fridge and my Tou-san can be your Tou-san too." Sasuke pauses for a moment. "I'm not sure you'd want him though. Don't think anyone would volunteer to have a Tou-san like mine." He leans in. "He's mean sometimes, and doesn't like me."
Kiba blinks. "But he said he was proud of you. He smelled like he meant it!" And Fuga-san had been real nice too.
Maybe Sasuke isn't right in the head. Some people are like that. But he said something about food, and Kiba really is very hungry...so it's okay. Besides, maybe Sasuke has the right of it, Fuga-san is his Tou-san after all.
Sasuke does not have the right of it, Kiba learns, one casual afternoon when Neechan is still gone, and Sasuke has jobs to do for Miko-san.
Fuga-san is home though, so that's where Kiba goes to look for him.
Kiba slides the door open, and tiptoes his way into the room. It's not a quiet enough tiptoe because Fuga-san looks up from his work. "Yes?"
"Nothing." Kiba tells him, precisely, because Fuga-san likes that sort of thing. Being precise that is, not the nothing part. Far as he knows, Fuga-san likes lots of things. "Just didn't want to be alone."
"I see." Fuga-san is again engrossed in whatever he's reading.
Kiba scoots over and sits on his feet, head on Fuga-san's lap. "Kiba-kun?" He wants to know why.
"Kaa-san's busy." He says. "And Neechan is gone. And Sasuke's doing something not fun."
Fuga-san sighs, and runs a hand through Kiba's hair without a second thought. He is nice. You just have to ask. "Will you promise not to be distracting?"
It's really not much to ask. "Is finger painting distracting?" With Fuga-san, it's always best to be sure.
"Yes." Like he thought, it's always best to be sure with Fuga-san, 'cause he might be distracting even if he didn't mean it.
"'Kay." He closes his eyes, and lets Fuga-san keep playing with his hair. "Sleep then." Fuga-san is nice. He decides. He even smells nice, and that means he's truthful 'bout stuff and everything.
He's just gotten into a nice doze, which isn't the same as being asleep, but it's pretty close when Miko-san walks in.
Her walking's really quiet, even when she doesn't try to be, so she has to have been a ninja too. "Anata?" A beat of silence, and then a squeal. "Oh, Anata...you really are cute aren't you."
Kiba blinks lazily. Oh. He drooled on Fuga-san's lap. He tries to wipe it away a bit with his sleeve. "Sorry, Fuga-san." He mutters and doesn't look up. "Didn't mean that."
Fuga-san says nothing, but he doesn't smell angry. Miko-san giggles. "Oh, don't worry about it, Kiba-chan." She pinches his cheek. "Aren't you a cute one?"
Kiba blinks at her. Not cute one. Cutest. Neechan says so. "Cutest." He nods firmly, and then remembers that he really shouldn't do that in other people's houses, especially since he's been caught drooling people. "Not cute at all."
Miko-san blinks once, and bursts into side splitting laughter. "Oh, he's just like a little version of Kouga-kun." She's both happy and sad. She's laughing and crying. "Doesn't he seem that way, anata? Who else would say something like cutest and then not cute at all right after one another?"
"Hn." Fuga-san seems a bit sad as well. Kiba has no idea who Kouga-kun is, but whoever he is, he clearly isn't around anymore. Like Tou-san. He thinks. Maybe there's a graveyard for Uchihas too, where they put all the people who went away and didn't come back.
But then Miko-san is offering him food, and he forgets to think about Kouga-kun at all. Miko-san makes better food than Kaa-san or Cousin Ashi, and Sasuke's back, so they can think of something fun to do instead of wandering around in the park.
"So that's why fishing is fun?" Kagen-san's got a long rod with a line and a hook attached to it, and he's volunteering to take Kiba and Sasuke down to the river. "And why're we going fishing?"
"Because you boys need to learn to sit still instead of chasing the cats around the district." Kagen-san smiles and is kind though, so Kiba doesn't mind the slightest.
Sitting still doesn't sound fun though, and Sasuke says so. "Don't want to sit still." He kicks the dirt before him and it throws up a big puff of dust.
Kiba attempts to kick up more dust, and is rewarded with a smaller cloud that he frowns at. Fuga-san had yelled at Sasuke but not him about the yowling cats. And yeah, maybe they were distracting, but it was Kiba's idea, and he'd even said so. No dice.
Fuga-san yelled at Sasuke 'cause he's not a guest and should know better. And suddenly Kiba gets why Sasuke thinks he's mean and not fun and all that. Fuga-san can seem really mean when he's yelling, but that's only 'cause he doesn't yell much. Privately, Kiba thinks that Fuga-san smelled a bit afraid of something too, when he'd seen Sasuke and Kiba trying to go up walls. "We could find a new plan for the cat." He gestures, because the conversation needs gestures. "Mean, we can't expect it to run down the street. It might go up the walls again."
Trying to go up walls wasn't fun, and was one of the reasons Fuga-san had decided that he needed to intervene. It's best not to go up walls again.
"You mean, like make the cat go somewhere else instead of the walls? How do we do that?" At least Sasuke isn't so gloomy anymore. It's better that way.
"Maybe we don't need it make it stop going up walls. We just need to hit it." Kiba frowns. "Kagen-san, is there a paint ball blow pipe?"
"Nah." Kagen-san ruffles both of their hair, and Kiba has to smooth it back down. Neechan wouldn't match with him if he didn't do that. Gotta match with Neechan, that's how everyone knows that Neechan's his Neechan. "But you boys could make one."
"That's a great idea!" It really is. He knows what blow pipes are like. Cousin Ashi had some in her room, but none of them are big enough for paint balls. "We can make little paint balls and hit the cat with them!"
Sasuke looks equally enthused. Now, the only thing is how to lose Kagen-san and not go fishing so there's no boring sitting around time.
"Tell you what." Kagen-san cuts in. "Sit with me and fish for a bit, and I'll help you two make the blow pipe."
Kiba blinks. "How long're we sitting?"
"Yeah, how long're we waiting?" Sasuke seems to have forgotten all about Fuga-san's yelling, which is really what Kiba had wanted, 'cause pouting Sasuke's the worst Sasuke, worse than even Snobby Stupid Sasuke.
"Hmmm." Kagen-san taps his chin. "Seven fish. We catch seven fish, and you'll each get one, and we can start the blow pipe."
"Five fish." Everyone knows you're not suppose to take the first offer. That's how the seven people ended up going on the journey to destroy the ring. If the chakra ring wasn't taken, shouldn't have needed to throw it in a fire mountain. Neechan was good at explaining these, and Kiba's even better at listening.
"Seven fish." So Kagen-san knows about the stories too then.
Kiba pauses by the river bank, crosses his arms, and frowns real hard. "Five fish!" No take backs! Five fish is lots to sit still for.
"Alright, alright, you win. Five fish." Kagen-san throws up his hands with a laugh that proves he's not really frustrated.
"Yay!" And then they sit down to fish.
He doesn't know exactly when he starts fighting with Neechan, or why he's so upset that he doesn't get three puppies. Neechan is special, that's why she gets three puppies. No one else has three puppies. But he can't help it, he screams and wails and wants to know why Neechan's sort of special isn't something that he can touch. He knows Neechan is a special special, that she isn't the sort of special that other people are, but he wants it. He wants it so bad.
I want to be special too.
When he and Neechan walked the streets, the whispers that follow them still say prodigy. Prodigy and her little brother. Most of the time Kiba doesn't mind. He likes to know that Neechan is special, that she's the best, but he wants to just as good and he's never just as good.
He's always a mile short.
And Neechan herself doesn't help it. Neechan isn't mean about it, it's just that the things she tells him doesn't help.
He would like it more if she said that he was an awful little brat like Kaa-san does sometimes. Would be okay to be angry if she said he was mean and yelled at him back, but Neechan doesn't.
Neechan tells him that she loves him, that she's leaving, and she's always leaving-
And he can't think anymore. He hates it. He hates the leaving.
Neechan is special, so she has to leave. Not even Sasuke's Niichan leaves this often, and Sasuke's always groaning and whining about it whenever he does. For once in his life, Kiba wants to scream until someone understands.
And like all the times he can't think, he flees the house, to the graveyard. To Tou-san who doesn't talk to him, but also doesn't seem to ever judge him. "T-tou-san." He curls up behind the stone.
It's cold and it presses into his back, and it's not like the stone is a man at all.
Everyone says that Tou-san would certainly love him, because Tou-san loved Neechan very much. But that doesn't mean he'd be proud of me. That doesn't mean it.
He gasps and snivels. "Are you proud of me?" It's not as loud as he'd normally make it. It's not as self assured, not as bright and vibrant as he's supposed to be, but stones don't talk, and he doesn't know.
Doesn't know anything about Tou-san particularly. Just knows that it doesn't make any amount of sense.
Just knows that Tou-san makes Neechan and Kaa-san sad. Just knows that Tou-san isn't here, has never been here and he hates it so.
Other people had Tou-sans who are here. He has this stone that can't talk to him.
"Are you proud of me?" He asks the stone once again, and can't find an answer.
"Cub?" It's Kaa-san who sets a hand on his shoulder, and pulls him in for a hug. "Cub, why're you down here?"
"T-tou-san. He isn't here." And he can't help it, the sobs rip from him loud and wailing and he isn't a little boy, but still it hurts. "And he's-" He can't explain. He can't explain that Tou-san isn't someone that he loves.
It's hard to love a stone in the ground. It's hard to care about someone who has never cared. It's hard to love the person who makes the people he loves sad all the time.
"Oh, Cub." Kaa-san walks with him back to the house, and he listens to her heartbeat, strong and firm. "He's proud of you, I know it."
And maybe Kaa-san does. Maybe she does, but Kiba doesn't.
And then Neechan could have died, and everything goes away. It doesn't matter if Tou-san liked her more, or that he isn't there, or that Neechan is special in ways that Kiba really isn't.
It only matters that Neechan came back even though he said that he rather she didn't.
Neechan came home even though she was leaving, and she didn't become an absent empty stone like Tou-san. He'll never ask for anything so much again.
But that night he slides open the door to the shrine, and asks that even if Neechan is leaving all the time, that she always comes back home too.
When he meets Akamaru, he understands. When he meets Akamaru, he meets the other half of himself. He knows it as soon as a white puppy detaches from the crowd, and the frantic barking is so much clearer than anything he's heard before. "Boy! Boy! Boy!"
He looks up at Neechan. "Can I pick him?"
She smiles, and she smells happy, like cinnamon and warm bread and lemon candy. "Is he your friend, Kiba-chan?"
Kiba nods. "Can hear him best of all the puppies. He says 'Boy! Boy! Boy!" The other puppies might mutter and he might be able to hear them, but it isn't best. It is faded and different. The white puppy he picked up is best.
"You'll have to tell him your name." Neechan pats the puppy once on the head. "Then he'll know to call you that."
Kiba turns toward the puppy. "I'm Kiba." He announces. "What's your name?" It's good to ask other people their names, and what Neechan says is nearly always right anyway.
The puppy tilts his head to the side. "Name?" It's like he doesn't know what his name is.
Kiba looks back at me. "What's his name?"
"Akamaru." Neechan says, in one of those strange moments where it seems like she knows everything there is to know with complete certainty. "Your name is Akamaru."
"Akamaru?" The puppy-no, Akamaru-barks, and looks up at Neechan curiously. "Who're you?"
The Triplets mob Neechan in an attempt to keep her safe, to mark her as theirs, and Kiba lets them. He's always going to be the best loved brother, cause the Triplets are a part of Neechan like Neechan's hands and feet are a part of Neechan, and that's different and things.
He tucks Akamaru close to his chest. "At any rate, Akamaru's mine!"
Nechan laughs. "Yes, Kiba-chan. Akamaru is your partner."
Everything is right in the world.
"Hah! So now my siblings are better than yours." Sasuke's standing with his arms crossed, and eyes delighted when Kiba makes his way to the district one day.
"Why?" Kiba steps up, and they stand, toe to toe, head to head, nose to nose. "Neechan's still so better than your Niichan." And Itachi-nii isn't that bad really, but still, no one in the world compares to Neechan.
"Cause I get to call her my Neechan now too!" Sasuke smiles, and it's the one that says he's better and everything. "And you don't get to call Niisan, Niisan."
And now that's the most unfair thing Kiba's ever heard. "Say that again, Stupid!" He grabs Sasuke by the collar, and they roll around in the dirt, kicking and punching.
Kiba considers biting him, but he doesn't need to. He has Sasuke pinned beneath him, and his fist is raised to punch him in the face, like he deserves it, to say that Kiba's gotta share Neechan, when Neechan's one of the few pack members he's got.
Maybe he could share, but Sasuke isn't volunteering to share, he's saying that Kiba's gotta give Neechan to him.
And no, Kiba's never going to do that in a million years, which is why he's considering giving Sasuke two black eyes, so that they'd be matching but-
"Boys!" Fuga-san's standing on the porch, arms crossed. He looks angry. He smells angry. Kiba decides that he is angry. "This is nothing to fight over. Sasuke apologize to Kiba, you are not taking his Neechan, and Kiba-" A pause in the air. "Come to my study when you're done apologize to Sasuke. You are a little boy, not a wild animal."
And Sasuke's upset again. "Sorry." He mutters, kicks up a clod of dirt, and goes away before Kiba can apologize.
"I'm not sorry!" Kiba screams after him. Serves him right for trying to take Neechan, but something heavy settles into his stomach anyway. Sasuke is his best friend, even though he's weird and whiny and sometimes mean, and wrong. Sasuke's his best friend, but he doesn't wanna give Neechan to him.
He turns around, and trudges inside.
It's time to go talk to Fuga-san and get yelled at.
"Kiba-kun?" Fuga-san's sitting on the floor, which doesn't happen very often. "Come here?" He raises a hand, and Kiba walks towards him on leaden feet.
He stops before he actually gets inside Fuga-san's arm range though, 'cause surely this time, Fuga-san is angry with him. Fuga-san loves Sasuke a bunch, and he'd been about to give Sasuke matching black eyes. "Sasuke ran away before I could say sorry. But 'm not sorry."
Fuga-san sighs. "Why is that, Kiba-kun?"
"'Cause Neechan's mine." And Fuga-san's moved forward, and holds him now. It's not the least bit like he's angry. It's almost like he's sad or guilty, but he hasn't got anything to be guilty about. "N can't give Neechan away." And now he's crying again, cause he doesn't want. Doesn't want. "Haven't got-" He scrubs his hands over his face in an attempt to stop crying.
It doesn't help.
"Neechan tells me stories." It's more than that. "And I tell Tou-san stories too, but he's not proud of me, he's not there at all." Other people can say what they want, but he doesn't have a Tou-san. He doesn't have and Sasuke does, but Sasuke's always complaining about his even though Kiba would be over the moon if Fuga-san was his Tou-san and it just-"It's not fair." It's never fair.
Why does he get what I want? It's not a fair thing for him to think. But it is what he thinks, and the thought makes him bruised and hurt worse than scraped knees.
"I'm proud of you." Fuga-san pulls him closer, and ruffles his hair. "I'm proud of you, son." And Kiba loses it completely.
"You mean it?" He could have heard wrong. Maybe Fuga-san means to say Kiba-kun. Maybe he didn't mean to call him son. "You mean it?"
"I mean it." A pause, a beat, and Kiba sobs into his shirt. "Your Neechan calls me Chichi. That is what Sasuke meant."
Oh. Oh. It wasn't the same thing after all. And-and- "Fuga-tou." Kiba takes a shaky breath and peels himself away. "I-" And he's speechless, gratitude spilling over his lips but he can do nothing more than open and close, open and close his mouth like he doesn't know what to feel or what to do. He knows exactly what he feels. He knows, but it won't come out. "Fuga-tou." He says again. "I-"
Fuga-tou smiles, and opens his arms, and it's like he understood everything all along. Kiba dives forward.
The arms that hold him are strong, and he's safe, safe, safe. "Thank you. Thank you. Thankyouthankyouthan-"
"I know."
The first time Kiba meets Yamanaka Ino, he is not prepared. He's seen her before, yeah, sad and all alone in the flower shop watering things and watching the outside, but he's never gone in, and he's never talked to her before.
But he calls her Fairy Girl in his head, because she looks like a sad and lost flower fairy. Her sad face makes him uncomfortable whenever he passes, but there'd always been something to do, and maybe she wasn't supposed to leave?
He'd hurried quickly whenever he had to walk past the flower shop.
But today, he'd been talking to the Ossan down at the flower shop because Neechan'd gone away again that morning and she'd be away for absolutely ages and he hates it but he can't ask her to stay. And Ossan of the Flower Shop is so not helpful, like why would he say something like "I don't think your Neechan has a favorite flower?"
He protests this of course, because Neechan is down here so much that she's gotta have a favorite of all these pretty things. He's just a teeny tiny bit ashamed that he doesn't know what it is, that's all, and Ossan could do him a big favor and tell him what it is.
And then Fairy Girl appears. "That's not what flowers are for." And he is captivated. There's a small smile playing on her lips and he can't help but notice that it crinkles the corners of her eyes just a little bit-and oh, was that a smudge of dirt on her cheek? This is the first time he's seen her happy.
"What?" She really is a fairy. He thinks to himself, completely and utterly stunned. Wait 'til I tell Neechan that I met a fairy. But that thought's really silly, because fairies aren't real, and the girl is so real so she isn't a fairy and-I've just stood here blinking for half a minute. She must think I'm stupid.
But he's an Inuzuka, and Inuzukas don't run and hide from things. He squares his shoulders.
She takes his hand. Wow. She has really small hands. "What are you trying to say?" She asks him.
Kiba frowns. "Flowers say things?" Didn't know that. Is that why Neechan always smells like different ones? "I just wanna give flowers."
"That's really dumb. You wouldn't want to offend people by giving them bad flowers right?" She stands there, hands on her hips, and yeah she's bossy, but she seems to know so much more. Can be bossy if you know things. "Cactus flowers mean lust, do you wanna say that you wanna kiss the person you're giving them to?"
"Eww. Who'd want to do that?" The mental images don't bear thinking about.
"Miko-baa might." Akamaru is so not helping.
He didn't need that thought at all. "Akamaru, that's gross."
And Fairy Girl giggles, and it's clear and sweet, and he likes it when she's happy even if the mental images that had hit him the moment before were terrible. Blagh. He never wants to think about those ever again.
"Since you don't want that, isn't it better to know what you want to say?" She takes him by the hand to show him the flowers. "What did you want the person to know?"
Kiba looks down at his feet and shuffles back and forth. "What him to know that he's 'preciated." He says at last. "Fuga-tou not Tou-san, but still Tou." Still Tou. Best Tou. Better Tou, even if I can't call him Tou-san.
Fairy Girl tilts her head to the side, and considers it. "Rosemary for remembrance. Daffodils for respect, and anemones for sincerity. You'll have sincere respect for him for always."
His eyes grow wide. She said everything, and it was so fast I didn't even have time to think about colors and things. "That's so brilliant."
"Akamaru, isn't she brilliant? Isn't she spectacular? Don't we have to be her friend?"
Akamaru agrees. Akamaru thinks it's a good idea.
"Brilliant." But he's forgotten the names, and surely she has to think he's stupid now. "Will you show me what the flowers you mentioned are? The-the rose thing and the aneno-whatsits."
She laughs. "Rosemary and anemones and daffodils." She loops an arm through his, and leads him down the rows. 'See, these ones are anemones." She picks up a cluster of white flowers and hands them to him.
He nods. "Un. Un." Gotta be careful. They're really fragile like the Fairy Girl.
And while he's thinking, Ossan of the Flower Shop and the Fairy Girl seems to have gotten into a discussion or something about her going outside. Fairy Girl wants to go outside.
"Hey Ossan! 'M sure that, that-" He flounders, turning back to her. Can't call you Fairy Girl. That won't be-Well, he doesn't know what it won't be, but he knows that it will be wrong. "Hey, what's your name anyway?"
"Ino." Did he mention she has a pretty giggle? "My name's Ino."
"Yeah!" He rallies himself. "'M sure that Ino-chan'll be great if she came."
"What if she gets hurt?" Ossan seems to think that he's scary. He isn't scary. Kiba's seen Kaa-san. That's scary. Ossan doesn't even come close.
Kiba straightens his shoulders and bares his teeth, like he's supposed to, because he's a wolf, and that's what wolves do. "She won't get hurt. I'll bet my life on it."
"Kiba, Kiba, you shouldn't do that." He pushes Akamaru's thoughts away. For Fairy Girl-For Ino-chan-He corrects himself. He will.
"Your life?" Ossan doesn't seem to believe him.
Kiba crosses his arms over his chest, and frowns. I'm saying what I mean. So you better believe me. "I'm betting my life not Akamaru's. I can afford that." He can. He can afford that.
"There's no need to be so serious. I believe you'll be kind to my cosmos." Ossan chuckles, but he still smells like he thinks Kiba's lying. Kiba's not lying.
"Fuga-tou says that I shouldn't say anything I don't mean." Kiba finds the money to pay for his flowers. Not lying. Not. A. Joke. "Said was willing to bet my life. Meant it. Wasn't a metaphor."
He learns everything about No-chan in the space of a day. He learns that she likes plum candies, but thinks lemon candies are good too, that she doesn't know how to swim, that sometimes people are mean to her, that she doesn't like to be called ugly, that she knows lots about flowers, that Ossan of the Flower Shop is her Tou-san, that she thinks Fuga-tou is scary and Sasuke is acceptable, and that she likes him, Kiba, a bunch.
And she really likes pretty things, and she's really like a butterfly over flowers.
And that she's really pretty. It's not because of anything in particular, just that she knows a lot, that she laughs really pretty, and that pretty is just something that she is.
I've gotta bring her home to see Kaa-san and Neechan and everyone.
He's already shown her to Fuga-tou and Miko-baa, and the Uchihas. He wants to show her to Kaa-san and Neechan too, but Neechan is gone again, and he can't and-
A flash of silver catches his eye. He dives across to a market stall, and drags Sasuke and No-chan with him. "Hey, Baasan!" He points towards two butterflies that really ought to belong to No-chan. "How much are those?" They'll fit best with her hair, cause her hair is gold'n'yellow, and those are silver'n'gray.
Baasan of the Hair Pin Stand names a price that's just about his allowance from Kaa-san for a month. He could buy about a million paintballs for the blow pipe with those. Well, maybe not a million paintballs, but lots of paintballs.
But those pins belong in No-chan's hair. They really do. "I'll take them and don't wrap them."
He digs around his pockets, pulls out a chewy dog bone wallet, and grimly counts out a month's allowance. They're good hair pins, and they're just as pretty as she deserves. "Turn around. We need to stick them in your hair." And now that he's got them, he's nervous. Maybe she doesn't like them, maybe she'll think he's silly and laugh at him, but she doesn't.
She turns around.
He passes the hairpins to Sasuke. "Hold them for a moment." He gathers her hair up in his hands, and twists them like he's seen ladies do, even though it doesn't seem to work quite well. He sticks the pins in anyway. "There." He says, with finality. "Now No-chan's really a butterfly."
She blushes. Sasuke scoffs. Akamaru agrees, and suddenly he remembers that it's getting kinda late. "And I 'pose that No-chan has to go home." Can take you to see Kaa-san and Neechan and Cousin Ashi and the pack and the kennels another day, I suppose.
Sasuke peels himself away. "Niichan!" He shouts and waves. "Sorry, Kiba-nii!" He tosses over his shoulder, racing through the crowd towards Itachi-nii. "I've gotta go home with Niichan!"
Well don't let me stop you. He takes her hand. "Well, we should probably go back."
"Yeah." No-chan agrees, and smiles bigger than he's seen her.
Made the best decision. He decides. Made No-chan really happy today.
"We're back!" He opens the door for her when they get to the flower shop, and she practically dances over the floor around the flowers and back around to him.
"Touchan!" She laughs and giggles, and in the dim light, Kiba thinks she looks giddy.
She'd been so sad looking when he saw her before, sitting in the flower shop by herself.
"Ino!" Ossan of the Flower Shop sounds like he disapproves a real lot though. "You've been gone the entire day."
"Touchan!" She giggles. "I've got so much to tell you about." She waves her hands around at everything, and everything and-he's glad she's happy, glad he had a part in it. "Kiba-kun and Sasuke-kun had a Yakitori eating contest. We built the biggest sand castle, and oh! We spent so much time down at the lake too! And, and-"
"It looks like we have to thank your new friend." Ossan of the Flower Shop looks up at him, and he still seems disapproving, which is bad, but still.
Kiba shifts from foot to foot for a moment. Does he gotta be so uncomfortable? "Not a problem, Ossan!" He laughs, and rubs the back of his neck with a hand. "I gotta go to dinner, yeah? I'll be back tomorrow, No-chan!" He says, and then flees through the door. Yeah, I'll be back and you can talk and sing and laugh everyday.
He doesn't actually go to dinner though. He goes down to the graveyard to talk to Tou-san about things. He still has to talk to Tou-san, because he has Fuga-tou to say he's proud now, and Tou-san didn't deserve to be lonely.
Privately, Kiba tells himself it's not Tou-san's fault that he's a rock. It just sorta is, you know, in that sort of way that water's wet and Akamaru's good and Neechan's best and Kaa-san's strong, and Sasuke's his best friend. Tou-san's a rock. That's just how it is.
"And so-so, I met her you know." He's gesturing, and maybe Tou-san can hear him, since the air is heavy tonight. "And No-chan's real pretty, like the prettiest girl in the world. You might like her a bit." He brushes the leaves away, and roots out the weeds above Tou-san's grave. "And she knows lots and lots 'bout flowers, and Sasuke doesn't think she's too bad."
The grave is silent.
He's not sure what to say next. Instead, he picks himself up, and goes to the shrine with Akamaru. Maybe if he lights some incense like he's seen Kaa-san do on the days that she's too sad, it'll help with his desire to talk to Tou-san tonight. He's tried this before, and it doesn't always work, but it's not a weird thing.
The weird thing is that there's a man sitting on the steps of the shrine, glowing faintly in the dying light of the evening. He has his head bowed, white hair falling over his clasped hands as he sits there, unmoving, but sort of moving at the same time.
"Strange." Akamaru whines and wriggles deeper into his jacket. "Strange, Kiba."
Kiba agrees. The man is weird. It's not anything in particular that he can tell. It's that the man's contradictory. He smells like earth, like fire, like wind, except wind doesn't have a smell, and he's not hot like fire, and he hasn't got anything living in him like earth. He doesn't smell person like.
"Who're you, Ossan?" Kiba asks, feeling a little braver than he is.
Because honest, Ossan on the Shrine Steps doesn't smell bad, even if he doesn't smell like a person.
Ossan on the Shrine Steps laughs, and raises his head. "Who do you think I am, Kiba-chan?"
Ossan knows his name then. Kiba considers it, considers Ossan's white hair, which isn't what makes him old exactly, it's more like Ossan just is and has always been, considers his bright gold eyes, and the two red fangs on his face.
Only pack has fangs. Kaa-san said so, but he doesn't know this Ossan, and he thought he knew every member of the pack.
"You're 'n Inuzuka, like me." And if Ossan's pack, then he isn't bad at all, so Kiba doesn't feel scared the slightest, even though Ossan's so weird. He plops himself down on the steps beside Ossan. "But you're super old 'nd I dunno you yet, so sorry."
Ossan chuckles, and ruffles his hair. "I haven't been around for a long time, Kiba-chan." His touch is weighty and heavy and not like how he'd expected, cause it's so human despite how not person like Ossan had smelled.
"Why're you back then, Jiji?" Cause well, if Ossan's pack, can't really keep calling him Ossan. He's more important than the Ossan at the Flower Shop if he's pack and stuff. So he has to be Jiji. Kiba hasn't had one before though, cause Jiji's a rock, kinda like how Tou-san's a rock. "If you left and stuff. Cause people that go away don't come back." He doesn't count the rocks. Those aren't exactly people.
"Mmm." Jiji seems to be thinking about it, his cheek cupped in his hand as he plays with the ends of his long white hair. "Maybe it's safe to say that I haven't found a reason to be here." And Jiji's gold eyes seem to be watching him for something.
"You don't mind being called Jiji?" Kiba crosses his arms and looks away, cause Jiji's eyes are uncomfortable, like they see even thoughts and things. Neechan gets like that sometimes, but she has to try. Jiji isn't trying. "Most people don't like being called old."
Jiji laughs, and it is comforting, cheery, bright, and pokes his cheek. "I'm older than your Jiji, so it's perfectly good that you call me Jiji."
"How old're you then?" If Jiji's older than Kaa-san's Tou-san then he has to be absolutely ancient.
"Hmmm..." Jiji seems to be consider it. "Forever." He smiles, and his fangs are sharp and sparkly in the not light. "I was old when the stars were young, and I will be the same when they all go out."
Sitting there, Kiba almost believes it. "Nobody's older'n stars, Jiji." Not even Neechan. Not even Kaa-san. Not even Reiya-baasan who's plenty old.
"But I am." Jiji chuckles at his shock. "But I see that's too much for you." A hand ruffles his hair. "Your Tou-san loves you, and he thinks of you often." Jiji says this as if it just is, which is how he says everything really, so Kiba's stopped being surprised.
"And know this Kiba-chan, you're destined for great things." Jiji winks, and his smile is wicked sharp. "And if I'm not forever, how do I do this?"
He disappears into a puff of light and a shower of sparks. Even his smell is gone.
And that might just be the weirdest thing about Jiji. "Just 'cause you can disappear quick doesn't mean you're older'n than stars, Jiji." Kiba mutters as he stands and brushes himself off. "Just means you know cool ninja tricks."
Somewhere in his head, he can hear Jiji laughing.
"Those candle flames were like the lives of men. So fragile. So deadly. Each bearing a seed of destruction so potent it could tumble cities and dash kings to their knees."
-Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings
A.N. So I had time, and I was struck by inspiration, and thus this chapter is born, celebrating all the joys and sorrows that is being Inuzuka Kiba. He does have some problems with Kaito's absence, even if it is because of a death, but he's growing up.
Of course, this causes all sorts of problems with his relationship with Sasuke, because Sasuke complains about his (according to Kiba) perfectly present and generally rather nice father when Kiba has to make do with a gravestone. Still, Kiba remains upbeat about most things, because it's really not in his nature to be depressed.
Also, guess who Jiji is? (It's kind of obvious I know, but it's the first time anyone's seen him, so...I'm excited.)
Thank you to everyone who reviewed, and favorited and followed.
I can't do any of this with so much joy without you all.
~Tavina.